When children go back to school, parents develop a checklist: shop for clothes, buy new shoes, and purchase pens, paper and notebooks. But Progressive Insurance (NYSE: PGR), the nation's fourth largest auto insurer, wants everyone to put one thing at the top of their list during the back-to-school season - safe driving.

A survey to better understand drivers' knowledge of rules regarding sharing the road with school buses and driving in school zones, was completed by 625 respondents.

The survey found that only 56 percent of respondents knew that drivers should wait for a school bus driver to disengage the red flashing lights of the school bus before proceeding. Thirty-three percent of respondents said they had engaged in at least one of the following distracting activities while driving through a school zone: answering a cell phone, changing radio/tape/CD, eating/drinking, or making a call on a cell phone. The survey also found that 26 percent of respondents would drive by a school zone cautiously only if school was in session.

On the positive side, the survey found that 95 percent of respondents would come to a complete stop when approaching a school bus from behind that is displaying flashing red lights. Another 95 percent said they would slow down to the posted speed limit when approaching a school zone.

While the survey found that a majority of people understood the rules of driving in a school zone, 36 percent of respondents said they know someone who has been ticketed for speeding in a school zone or for passing a school bus illegally.

Thirty-one percent of respondents said they would not change their driving habits when they know school is in session. Sixty-five percent said that while driving, they have experienced a child suddenly darting out on a bicycle from a driveway. Twenty-seven percent have swerved to avoid hitting a child on a bicycle. Also, 36 percent of respondents said they were not able to see a child riding a bicycle because it was dark out.

For more information and for safe back-to-school driving tips, visit Info to Go on http://www.progressive.com.